The rapid growth of MLS has seen clubs emphasize role players depth, and non-superstars more than ever, using the highly successful recent addition Targeted Allocation Money to sign quality starters all over the field. Rather than winning on the back of a David Beckham, teams win on the back of a Victor Vazquez, or a Roman Torres.
As part of this trend, we’ve also seen MLS teams prioritize development of youth talent in the past five to 10 years. With quality domestic talent dotting rosters, clubs are able to find cheaper production in multiple places, and the teams that have done this are the ones that have seen the returns.